Asian Player of the Year, Al Sadd’s striker Akram Afif will be in the running for back to back QFA Player of the Year Awards, it was revealed yesterday.
The Board of Trustees of the QFA Award yesterday finalised the nominations for the annual ceremony at an online meeting.
The joint-top scorer in the QNB Stars League (QSL) this time, with 15 goals, same as Al Rayyan’s Algerian star Yacine Brahimi, won the prestigious award last year following an exceptional season in which his team won the coveted QSL title.
Brahimi and Al Duhail’s Brazilian midfielder Edmilson Jr are the other nominees for the Award.
Brahimi's contribution played a huge role in Al Rayyan's second-place finish this season while Edmilson played a vital role in Al Duhail’s title triumph. The 26-year-old scored six goals in his second season with The Red Knights, including the winning goal which sealed their seventh Falcon Shield on Friday.
The annual awards ceremony will not take place this season, taking into consideration the country’s efforts to combat the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19).
Nominees and winners will be announced through the official website and social media of QFA and Qatar Stars League.
Meanwhile, Barcelona legend Xavi Hernandez of Al Sadd, Al Rayyan’s Diego Aguirre and Al Gharafa’s Slavisa Jokanovic will be in contest for the Best Coach Award.
Incidentally, two seasons ago, Xavi was one of the finalists in the battle for the QFA Best Player’s Award, which was eventually won by Al Duhail's Youssef Msakni. Al Gharafa's Homam Elamin, Tarek Salman of Al Sadd and Khaled Muneer of Al Wakrah are the nominees for the Best U-23 Player Award.
The QSL team coaches, Qatar national team coach, Olympic team coach, team managers, media representatives, President and Board members of the QFA Awards Committee and the representative of QFA and QSL will vote and then the winners will be announced.
The winners of the Best Referees and the Football for All Awards will be announced after the final results of voting.
